Mostly Beagles, Babies, and Books...

We had a great week this week! My sister Mellie, Carla May, and I went up to the E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center on Wednesday for a tour with some of our friends with the Florida Wildlife Federation who were in town. Neither Mellie nor Carla May had ever been to the Center, and it had been a good 8 months since I had been, so we all had a wonderful time visiting with the staff and the animals and seeing what new things are going on.

Here are a few more things that brought me joy this week:

My Sister is Here for the Summer!

I mentioned this in my post on Wednesday, but I am so excited that my sister Mellie is living with us this summer! She studied abroad in Spain all spring semester, so it had been quite awhile since I had seen her. She is interning this summer at Nokuse Plantation studying gopher tortoises. Here is a cute shot of Mellie before she left for her first day:

Date Night with my Husband

Chatham and I went to a wedding in Alys Beach last weekend and had a blast. Now that we have a kiddo who goes to bed between 6 and 7 pm, we don’t get to be out and about much after dark, and especially not with just the two of us.

Right after we parked the car and were walking in, my shoe broke! The footpad separated from the wedge and the shoes were no longer wearable. It takes almost an hour and a half for us to drive from our home in Destin to Alys Beach in summer traffic, so there was no way I was going back. I considered walking in barefoot, but decided that I am already Alabama enough… The wedding was supposed to start in 10 minutes at this point, so I told Chatham to go ahead and I’d figure something out. Luckily there is ONE store in Alys Beach and they had ONE pair of wedges available. I sprinted over to the Alys Shoppe barefoot, paid WAY more than I would prefer to on sandals, and shimmied into the wedding right before the bridesmaids began walking down the aisle. Whew! Despite this minor hiccup, we ended up having a fabulous time (and I got so many compliments on my cute new shoes!!).

Long Strange Trip

Chatham, Mellie, and I have been watching Long Strange Trip all week (only one episode to go) and it is utterly fascinating. Long Strange Trip is a documentary series on The Grateful Dead streaming on Amazon Prime. The series delves into the history of the band and how their music and fans have evolved. Band members share their stories and commentary throughout the show, and there is a ton of never-before-seen footage. I have learned so much about the band, about the music production process, and about the jam band culture that The Grateful Dead inspired. It is interesting to learn how jam music was first created by The Dead and compare that to the music and performance styles of jam bands still touring today, like Widespread Panic, Phish, and String Cheese, bands of which The Dead is probably their biggest influence.

There is also a soundtrack to the series streaming on Apple Music that I have been listening to all week long.